River Cities' Reader | Theatre ReviewsThe River Cities' Reader Online - Updated daily local media website and bi-weekly newspaper that covers the Arts, Business, Culture and Politics of the Quad Cities' area.http://www.rcreader.com/theatre/reviews/
Tue, 03 Mar 2015 23:41:55 +0000Joomla! 1.5 - Open Source Content Managementen-gbBush Leagues: "Stuff Happens," at Augustana College through May 6http://www.rcreader.com/theatre/bush-leagues-stuff-happens/
http://www.rcreader.com/theatre/bush-leagues-stuff-happens/David Hare's Stuff Happens is a political drama based on events that transpired between the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and 2003's invasion of Iraq, and in his director's notes for Augustana College's fascinatingly uneven production of the play, Scott Magelssen writes that the "national, racial, and ethnic backgrounds" of the show's characters - which include Colin Powell, Sadaam Hussein, and Yo-Yo Ma - presented "a steep challenge to Augustana College Theatre's casting pool."
]]>mike@rcreader.com (Mike Schulz)ReviewsWed, 02 May 2007 08:20:04 +0000’Til Death Do Us Partner: "Tuesdays with Morrie," at ComedySportz through May 6http://www.rcreader.com/theatre/til-death-do-us-partner/
http://www.rcreader.com/theatre/til-death-do-us-partner/ You can often pinpoint your favorite moment in a particular stage performance, when an actor does something so fresh or unexpected or wonderfully human that the worlds of fictional "reality" and actual reality blur in the most extraordinary way. Ray Gabica, in My Verona Productions' current presentation of Tuesdays with Morrie, doesn't provide one of these moments. If you try really hard, though, you might be able to narrow your favorites down to about 50.
]]>mike@rcreader.com (Mike Schulz)ReviewsWed, 02 May 2007 08:18:40 +0000Arachnophabulous: "Charlotte’s Web," at the Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse through May 12http://www.rcreader.com/theatre/arachnophabulous-charlottes-web-at/
http://www.rcreader.com/theatre/arachnophabulous-charlottes-web-at/When the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse produced Charlotte's Web in 2003, I was lucky enough to perform in the show opposite Janos Horvath's Wilbur, and I vividly remember being amazed that someone could give such a touching, wholly credible performance while wearing a rubber pig nose.

The theatre has now revived the production, and luckily for audiences, Horvath and his adorable pink honker are back, too. Yet with all due respect to Horvath - who's as marvelous in the role now as he was then - this version of Charlotte's Web is currently being stolen by someone else entirely. And she's only in fifth grade.

]]>mike@rcreader.com (Mike Schulz)ReviewsWed, 25 Apr 2007 08:18:48 +0000Designing Woman: "Crème de Coco," at St. Ambrose Universityhttp://www.rcreader.com/theatre/designing-woman-crme-de-coco/
http://www.rcreader.com/theatre/designing-woman-crme-de-coco/Before Friday night's presentation of Crème de Coco commenced, St. Ambrose University theatre professor Corinne Johnson briefly took the stage, and related how proud she was of the evening's entertainment - a world premiere by Broadway playwright William Luce, directed by Broadway veteran Philip William McKinley (both of whom were in attendance). As theatrical coups go, this one was way up there.

Yet as understandably proud as the school's staff was, it's inconceivable that they were any less proud of St. Ambrose alumna Kimberly Furness, who portrayed famed designer Coco Chanel in Luce's 80-minute one-act. For those in attendance for last weekend's shows, memories of Crème de Coco's grandeur willlikely last several years. Memories of Furness' performance may last even longer.

]]>mike@rcreader.com (Mike Schulz)ReviewsWed, 25 Apr 2007 08:17:31 +0000Death Becomes Him: "Death Takes a Holiday," at the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre through April 22http://www.rcreader.com/theatre/death-becomes-him-death-takes/
http://www.rcreader.com/theatre/death-becomes-him-death-takes/Actors frequently speak of performers who "raise the bar," whose personal performance standards are so high that they challenge - and inspire - their co-stars to match them. In Death Takes a Holiday, the comedy/drama/supernatural romance currently playing at the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre, James Driscoll raises the bar so high it's practically celestial.
]]>mike@rcreader.com (Mike Schulz)ReviewsWed, 18 Apr 2007 08:21:05 +0000A "Duckling" in Need of a Goose: "The Ugly Duckling," at the Moline Public Library, April 18http://www.rcreader.com/theatre/a-duckling-in-need-of/
http://www.rcreader.com/theatre/a-duckling-in-need-of/ At last Wednesday's preview performance of The Ugly Duckling at Black Hawk College, a most unusual - and most welcome - thing happened: In the one-act play's final 10 minutes, the show finally found the style it seemed to have been searching for during its previous 50.
]]>mike@rcreader.com (Mike Schulz)ReviewsWed, 18 Apr 2007 08:19:35 +0000Minnesota Nice: "Church Basement Ladies," at the Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse through May 26http://www.rcreader.com/theatre/minnesota-nice-church-basement-ladies/
http://www.rcreader.com/theatre/minnesota-nice-church-basement-ladies/ Being raised Lutheran, I easily recognized the Lutheranisms on display in director Curt Wollan's Church Basement Ladies, currently playing at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse. (Growing Up Lutheran, in fact, is the title of the Janet Letnes Martin & Suzann Johnson Nelson book the show is based on.) And as written by Jim Stowell and Jessica Zuehlke, with music and lyrics by Drew Jansen, this comedy smartly dissects the customs of its Minnesotan characters, is filled with gently sly references, and is spot-on in revealing our sect's unique brand of hostility, in which insults are casually tossed off as conversation. (Handing the phone to her pastor, one of the title characters gets in a veiled, pointed jab with "It's your new wife.")
]]>mike@rcreader.com (Mike Schulz)ReviewsWed, 04 Apr 2007 08:24:38 +0000Tragi-comically Single: "Bad Dates," at the Nighswander Theatre through April 1http://www.rcreader.com/theatre/tragi-comically-single-bad-dates/
http://www.rcreader.com/theatre/tragi-comically-single-bad-dates/ There's a scene in Theresa Rebeck's one-woman comedy Bad Dates - currently being produced by New Ground Theatre - in which our protagonist, Haley, is seen trying on clothes. Actually, nearly every scene features Haley trying on clothes, but I'm referring to the opening sequence, in which she's preparing for the first date she's had since ditching her good-for-nothing husband in Texas and moving to New York. With the audience cast as Haley's confidantes, this single mom and restauranteur tells us of her divorce and her 13-year-old daughter and her recent experiences at a Tibetan Buddhist book benefit, and all the while she tries on skirts, blouses, and lots and lots of shoes; no ensemble, it seems, is working for her.

Finally, Haley finds an outfit to her liking - complete with a shoulder wrap that looks vaguely like a piñata - and steps in front of the (imaginary) full-length mirror to gauge the effect. "This," she states, "is a total disaster."

]]>mike@rcreader.com (Mike Schulz)ReviewsWed, 28 Mar 2007 08:29:19 +0000"Bee" Queens: Notes from Quad City Music Guild's "Beehive" Dress Rehearsalhttp://www.rcreader.com/theatre/bee-queens-notes-from-quad/
http://www.rcreader.com/theatre/bee-queens-notes-from-quad/As it was a technical dress rehearsal with four days to go before opening night, it was understandable that the March 19 presentation of Quad City Music Guild's Beehive encountered a few glitches. The scene transitions were on the poky side; it was often unclear, during the frequent medleys, whether musical numbers were supposed to end with applause or not (there were a few too many uncomfortable pauses); and the sound, during Act I especially, obviously needed polish - the over-amplification on the opening number, in particular, was painful.

But when all was said and done, there was only one thing sorely missing from this presentation: An audience. Because when Beehive's performers finally getone, this thing is gonna go through the roof.